OKX, Man City Sign $70M Deal after Shaking Off Club’s FTX-Related Fears

OKX has expanded its deal with Manchester City through a new three-year agreement that makes it the popular English football club’s Official Sleeve Partner. The new deal is worth $70 million, the Seychelles-based cryptocurrency exchange told CoinDesk today (Friday).

OKX Passes Man City’s ‘Litmus Test’

OKX launched its first official global brand partnership with Man City in March 2022. Months later, it became the club’s official training kit partner for the 2022/2023 season.

The new deal unveiled on Friday at the Etihad Stadium in England builds on these previous partnerships. The agreement avails OKX of a bigger opportunity for brand positioning.

“As part of the expanded deal, the OKX brand will feature on the left sleeve of both the men's and women's first team playing kits and will retain its position on the left sleeve of the first team training kits, in addition to appearing across further digital and physical club assets,” OKX explained in a statement.

Beyond Man City, OKX’s portfolio of brand partnerships includes the British motor racing team, McLaren Formula 1 and F1 Driver, Daniel Ricciardo; Olympic medalist, Scotty James; and the annual film festival, the Tribeca Festival. However, OKX told CoinDesk it passed Man City’s “litmus test” before the new agreement went through.

Sports Sponsorship Nightmare in Crypto Industry

In 2021, FTX and Crypto.com splashed over $1 billion on sports sponsorships, with the latter securing the right to sponsor the Ultimate Fighting Championship for 10 years through a $175 million deal. However, the collapse of FTX in November 2022 left several of the bankrupt crypto exchange’s sports partners and celebrity endorsers contending with multiple lawsuits, Finance Magnates reported.

In an interview with CoinDesk on Friday, OKX disclosed that its sports partners expressed worry about its business in light of the situation at FTX. However, Haider Rafique, the Chief Marketing Officer of OKX, said the exchange’s proof of reserves (PoR) convinced the sports collaborators otherwise. He added that partners such as Man City and McLaren Formula 1 even audited its PoR.

A PoR is an independent third-party audit to confirm that a digital asset custodian actually holds the assets it claims to have accumulated in its reserves to secure customer deposits.